Lauren does Shakespeare Mafia

Lauren does Shakespeare Mafia

http://youtu.be/vhly37rvxZA

Interest Rate Hold!

The Bank of Canada put an interest rate hike firmly back on the table for the second half of the year, sending the Canadian dollar to its highest level in more than two months on Tuesday.

The central bank left its key policy rate unchanged at one per cent, but assumed a more hawkish tone in its accompanying statement, increasing the likelihood of rate hikes sometime this fall.

While the subsequent rise in the loonie is not unexpected, some analysts worry that further appreciation against the U.S. dollar could trip up Canada's still-fragile economy and perversely, dampen the central bank's more aggressive plan to tighten monetary conditions.

"By sending a clear warning shot of interest rate hikes to come, the Bank of Canada is willing to live with a somewhat stronger Canadian dollar," said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets. "Nonetheless the stronger the currency, the fewer rate hikes we may end up talking about."

The Bank of Canada's latest rate announcement was highlighted by a slight but clear change in the wording of its policy statement. The central bank is now saying "some of the considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will be withdrawn" compared with "eventually withdrawn" in the May statement.

By dropping the word "eventually," Shenfeld said the bank gave a "not-too-subtle hint" that it expects to begin the process of interest rate hikes sooner than business analysts had expected. While most analysts headed into Tuesday's announcement predicting a first rate hike in December or even later, it now appears the next quarter-point hike could come in October, if not September.

"In either case, rising interest costs will be coming sooner and earlier than financial markets had been pricing in," Shenfeld said.

The Canadian dollar, which climbed 85 basis points to $1.0517 U.S., should get an additional near-term boost as a result, the CIBC economist added, which ultimately could limit the extent of further rate hikes.

Derek Holt, an economist at Scotia Capital Markets, agrees that a rate hike this fall now looks more likely, but worries that the country's central bank is becoming too hawkish given the global economy's present instability.

He said the loonie trades above its fundamentals and is already a potential headwind on economic growth. Furthermore, if the U.S. does reach a debt-ceiling agreement in the next few days and the "risk" trade returns, currency flows will move away from the U.S. dollar and into high-beta currencies like the Canadian dollar.

"If you light up the Canadian dollar even further you run the risk of really putting sharper downside on core inflation at a later date and run the risk of erratic policy," he said.

For its part, the Bank of Canada said headline inflation is expected to remain above three per cent in the near term, largely reflecting temporary factors such as significantly higher food and energy prices.

The central bank said core inflation is also slightly firmer, also owing to temporary factors and to more persistent strength in the prices of some services.

Governor Mark Carney and his colleagues said growth in Canada will rebound in the second half of the year following the global slowdown during the second quarter blamed on temporary supply chain disruptions brought on partially by Japan's disastrous earthquake.

The central bank, which will provide more depth about its outlook when it releases its quarterly economic report on Wednesday, warned that the U.S. economy has grown at a slower pace than expected and continues to be restrained by consolidating household balance sheets and stubborn unemployment. And despite stronger growth than expected in Europe, fiscal austerity measures in other countries will ultimately restrain expansion.

But modest growth in major advanced economies is being offset by robust expansions in emerging markets, the central bank added. In particular, growth in China remains very strong despite the country's tighter monetary policy in recent months and commodity prices are expected to remain at elevated levels, following recent declines.

David Madani, an economist at Capital Economics believes the Bank's overnight lending rate will end this year at one per cent. Still, he acknowledged that his view looks less likely than it did starting the week.

"If we are wrong, we still think the bank would take a very gradualist approach to raising interest rates over the next 12 months," he said.

Talent

The Ten Talons & Talent (paraphrased)

http://youtu.be/kIEvY6Puyho

Business Read - Entrepreneurs Only

Follow this link to download a portion of The Basics Of Business Success - Book 1, The Basics of Business/Marketing Plan Development

From:

http://www.franccampbell.com/publications.html

Safety Tips for Weekend Do-It-Yourself Home Repairs

Stats for June 2011

Summer housing market trends toward balance after an active spring season:

VANCOUVER, B.C. – July 5, 2011 –Home sellers outpaced buyers on Greater Vancouver’s Multiple Listings Service® (MLS®) in June, drawing the market back toward balance this summer.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached 3,262 in June, a 9.8 per cent increase compared to the 2,972 sales in June 2010 and a 3.4 per cent decline compared to the 3,377 sales in May 2011.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 5,793 in June. This represents a 4.5 per cent increase compared to June 2010 when 5,544 properties were listed for sale on the MLS® and a 2.3 per cent decline compared to the 5,931 new listings reported in May 2011.

Last month’s new listing total was 9.8 per cent higher than the 10-year average for June, while residential sales were 7.3 per cent below the ten-year average for sales in June.

“With sales below the 10-year average and home listings above what’s typical for the month, activity in June brought closer alignment between supply and demand in our marketplace,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “With a sales-to-active-listings ratio of nearly 22 per cent, it looks like we’re in the upper end of a balanced market.”

At 15,106, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS® increased 3.1 per cent in June compared to last month and declined 14 per cent from this time last year.

The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 8.7 per cent to $630,921 in June 2011 from $580,237 in June 2010.

“The largest price increases continue to be in the detached home market on the westside of Vancouver and in West Vancouver,” Setticasi said. “Since the end of May, the benchmark price of a detached home rose more than $147,000 on the westside of Vancouver and over $80,000 in West Vancouver. Detached home prices in Richmond, however, levelled off slightly, declining $25,000 in June.”

Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in June 2011 reached 1,471, an increase of 29.1 per cent from the 1,139 detached sales recorded in June 2010, and an 11.8 per cent decrease from the 1,667 units sold in June 2009. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 13.4 per cent from June 2010 to $901,680.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,266 in June 2011, a 0.6 per cent increase compared to the 1,258 sales in June 2010, and a decrease of 29.3 per cent compared to the 1,790 sales in June 2009. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 3.5 per cent from June 2010 to $405,200.

Attached property sales in June 2011 totalled 525, an 8.7 per cent decrease compared to the 575 sales in June 2010, and a 34.5 per cent decrease from the 802 attached properties sold in June 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 6 per cent between June 2010 and 2011 to $522,424.

For a full copy of the June 2011 Stats Repost, send me an email or contact me at 604-603-1257.